Angela Merkel to receive prestigious Four Freedoms Award

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named as this year's recipient of a prestigious international award, with organizers lauding her "great moral leadership" in Germany and pivotal role in tackling the crises buffeting Europe.

The Dutch-based Roosevelt Foundation says Merkel will receive the International Four Freedoms Medal at a ceremony in April.

In a statement announcing the award Wednesday, the foundation praised Merkel for her role in the European financial and migrant crises, for leading efforts to bring peace to conflict-torn Ukraine and for showing "great moral leadership as chancellor of all Germans regardless of faith and ethnicity."

Previous winners of the award include U.S. Presidents Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy, South African leader Nelson Mandela and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.